Industrial Hemp - Illegal Solution to (all?) environmental problems
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Climate Change/Global Warming
Hemp
- Increases soil carbon, locking it into raw materials and replacing unsustainable raw materials
- Absorbs carbon several times more carbon per acre than forests, and has been quotes as "the fasted carbon-to-biomatter converter"
Deforestation
- Hemp only takes a 90-100 days to mature for harvest, while most trees take 50 to 500 years and is far less vulnerable to changes in climate compared to slow to medium growth forests
- It can be turned into many products that are usually wood-based such as paper and plywood.
- It still has the most useful biochemical characteristics of hardwood. - Growing hemp on deforested hillsides prevent landslides, run-off and also prepares land for future crops or reforestation. Large scale tree planting is not feasible without providing an immediate and sustainable alternative to forest resources used by the majority of the worlds population for cooking heating and raw materials. Hemp produces several metric tons of versatile biomass per hectare annually or bi-annually in hotter climates, potentially protecting old growth forests.
- Hemp also produces much higher quantities of stronger and more versatile fibre than cotton, and many other fibre crops, which often have very high chemical residue and water footprints.
- Hemp produces 3-4 times more usable fiber for paper per hectre per year than forests and hemp paper can be recycled 10 times while tree-based paper can only be recycled around 3 times. Sustainable forests tend to dry up the land over time and drain it of resources while hemp actually repleneshes the soil.
Loss of Topsoil/Reduction in Quality of Soil/Return to Permaculture
- Hemp can be grown without the use of chemical imputs
- This makes it ideal for subsistance communities in 3rd World Countries
- Hemp improves soil structure and fetility and so can be grown on existing agricultural land (unlike most forestry projects) and can be included as part of a farm's crop rotation with positive effects on overall yields of follow on crops.
-
Peak Oil + Unsustainable/Unlean Energy
- Not only can Hemp be turned into a clean and sustainable petrol for cars...
- It can also be turned into several products that would replace petrochemical products such as
- Large scale cultivation could replace many oil-based unsustainable products and materials, particularly in construction
- Hemp Seed Oil can be used to fuel cars. Biodiesel is becoming very popular lately, and Hemp is actually the best plant to use for biodiesel. It boasts the highest oilseed yield out of all other plants used for biodisel. This means that one plant of Hemp can produce more fuel then any other single plant.
- Fossil fuel contains sulphur, which is the source of many of the aggravating environmental pollution, on the other hand dried hemp biomass burns with virtually no ash or sulphur.
- So it could also be combined as a source of energy along with other sustainable sources such as wind, wave, solar and geothermic.
Sustainable Cosmetics
- Hemp can be made into healthy shampoos, lotions, lip and other balms.
MORE TO COME
Sources:
http://www.hempglobalsolutions.com/
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/11362
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/214402?m=2776416e
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/4145?m=266f5cf0
Sources of Hemp Products:
http://bit.ly/EverythingHemp
http://bit.ly/HempProducts
Climate Change/Global Warming
Hemp
- Increases soil carbon, locking it into raw materials and replacing unsustainable raw materials
- Absorbs carbon several times more carbon per acre than forests, and has been quotes as "the fasted carbon-to-biomatter converter"
Deforestation
- Hemp only takes a 90-100 days to mature for harvest, while most trees take 50 to 500 years and is far less vulnerable to changes in climate compared to slow to medium growth forests
- It can be turned into many products that are usually wood-based such as paper and plywood.
- It still has the most useful biochemical characteristics of hardwood. - Growing hemp on deforested hillsides prevent landslides, run-off and also prepares land for future crops or reforestation. Large scale tree planting is not feasible without providing an immediate and sustainable alternative to forest resources used by the majority of the worlds population for cooking heating and raw materials. Hemp produces several metric tons of versatile biomass per hectare annually or bi-annually in hotter climates, potentially protecting old growth forests.
- Hemp also produces much higher quantities of stronger and more versatile fibre than cotton, and many other fibre crops, which often have very high chemical residue and water footprints.
- Hemp produces 3-4 times more usable fiber for paper per hectre per year than forests and hemp paper can be recycled 10 times while tree-based paper can only be recycled around 3 times. Sustainable forests tend to dry up the land over time and drain it of resources while hemp actually repleneshes the soil.
Loss of Topsoil/Reduction in Quality of Soil/Return to Permaculture
- Hemp can be grown without the use of chemical imputs
- This makes it ideal for subsistance communities in 3rd World Countries
- Hemp improves soil structure and fetility and so can be grown on existing agricultural land (unlike most forestry projects) and can be included as part of a farm's crop rotation with positive effects on overall yields of follow on crops.
-
Peak Oil + Unsustainable/Unlean Energy
- Not only can Hemp be turned into a clean and sustainable petrol for cars...
- It can also be turned into several products that would replace petrochemical products such as
- Large scale cultivation could replace many oil-based unsustainable products and materials, particularly in construction
- Hemp Seed Oil can be used to fuel cars. Biodiesel is becoming very popular lately, and Hemp is actually the best plant to use for biodiesel. It boasts the highest oilseed yield out of all other plants used for biodisel. This means that one plant of Hemp can produce more fuel then any other single plant.
- Fossil fuel contains sulphur, which is the source of many of the aggravating environmental pollution, on the other hand dried hemp biomass burns with virtually no ash or sulphur.
- So it could also be combined as a source of energy along with other sustainable sources such as wind, wave, solar and geothermic.
Sustainable Cosmetics
- Hemp can be made into healthy shampoos, lotions, lip and other balms.
MORE TO COME
Sources:
http://www.hempglobalsolutions.com/
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/11362
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/214402?m=2776416e
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/4145?m=266f5cf0
Sources of Hemp Products:
http://bit.ly/EverythingHemp
http://bit.ly/HempProducts